To: Ed Murray, Mayor, Tim Burgess, Council President, Sally Clark, Council Member, Sally Bagshaw, Council Member, Jean Godden, Council Member, Bruce Harrell, Council Member, Nick Licata, Council Member, Mike O'Brien, Council Member, Tom Rasm...
Seattle City Council and Mayor Murray: $15 minimum wage - make it happen!
Mayor Murray and Seattle City Council: We demand quick progress towards a $15 minimum wage that benefits everyone.
Why is this important?
We at MoveOn Seattle would like to share this letter that we received from a local Seattle fast food worker.
“I am a Seattle fast food worker, but I can’t support myself on my current wage of $9.32 an hour. I have to pay rent, electricity, phone and all the rest on minimum wage pay, $9.32 an hour - less than $20,000 a year even if I was scheduled for 40 hours a week. I had to move out of the city after I got my job because the pay was too low. I commute two hours a day on the bus to get to my fast food job and I still can’t even afford to live in the city.
It’s time that changed!
Lots of elected officials have said that they are supportive of a $15 an hour minimum wage. In fact, Mayor Murray formed an income inequality committee here in the city to address raising the minimum wage, and even signed an executive order raising the wage to $15 an hour for all city employees. We need to hold them to their promises. We can keep the pressure on and make sure they know that we aren’t going away. We will keep fighting for $15!
These fast food and other big corporations are making billions in profits - they can afford to pay us better. We can’t just sit around and hope that they do the right thing out of the goodness of their hearts, though. We have to make them.
If I get a pay raise to $15 an hour it would literally change my life. I would be able to rent my own place. I’d be able to start planning for my future and maybe, just maybe I’d buy some stuff I’ve needed for a long time but couldn’t afford.
It wouldn’t just be good for workers like me, but it would be good for everybody. We all would put that money right back into the local stores and business around us. We’re not going to store it away in some out of state corporate headquarters. We are going to spend right here in the city.
They are doing it in SeaTac and we can do it in Seattle. Who knows where it will go next. Together, let’s help the Mayor and the Seattle City Council do the right thing for all employees and pass a $15 minimum wage in Seattle.”
Thanks! –MoveOn Seattle
“I am a Seattle fast food worker, but I can’t support myself on my current wage of $9.32 an hour. I have to pay rent, electricity, phone and all the rest on minimum wage pay, $9.32 an hour - less than $20,000 a year even if I was scheduled for 40 hours a week. I had to move out of the city after I got my job because the pay was too low. I commute two hours a day on the bus to get to my fast food job and I still can’t even afford to live in the city.
It’s time that changed!
Lots of elected officials have said that they are supportive of a $15 an hour minimum wage. In fact, Mayor Murray formed an income inequality committee here in the city to address raising the minimum wage, and even signed an executive order raising the wage to $15 an hour for all city employees. We need to hold them to their promises. We can keep the pressure on and make sure they know that we aren’t going away. We will keep fighting for $15!
These fast food and other big corporations are making billions in profits - they can afford to pay us better. We can’t just sit around and hope that they do the right thing out of the goodness of their hearts, though. We have to make them.
If I get a pay raise to $15 an hour it would literally change my life. I would be able to rent my own place. I’d be able to start planning for my future and maybe, just maybe I’d buy some stuff I’ve needed for a long time but couldn’t afford.
It wouldn’t just be good for workers like me, but it would be good for everybody. We all would put that money right back into the local stores and business around us. We’re not going to store it away in some out of state corporate headquarters. We are going to spend right here in the city.
They are doing it in SeaTac and we can do it in Seattle. Who knows where it will go next. Together, let’s help the Mayor and the Seattle City Council do the right thing for all employees and pass a $15 minimum wage in Seattle.”
Thanks! –MoveOn Seattle